The present invention relates to contents providing method, contents providing system and contents server for providing a user terminal with contents desired by the user via a network.
In one example of utilization of Internet, desired information is obtained from a server connected to Internet. On Internet there exist contents servers each acting to provide a user terminal with information desired by the user. Such a contents server has contents data, such as image data and sound data, stored therein. When the user requests his or her desired contents data, the contents server provides the user terminal with the desired contents data.
Conventionally, various techniques for contents data distribution by a contents server have been developed. For example, the invention described in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application No. 2002-222237 adopts the technique of communicating information on contents data sizes and resolutions between the contents server and the user terminal in obtaining desired contents data from the contents server. Also, the invention described in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application No. H09-046680 adopts the technique of automatically selecting a resolution for desired contents data depending on the density of communications on a network in transmitting the contents data.
With the former technique, however, the user's terminal must be kept connected to the contents server all the way during a period from the start to finish of specifying a contents data size and a resolution. For this reason, the time period during which the contents server is kept connected to one user terminal becomes longer, which results in a decreased number of user terminals which are allowed to connect to the contents server within a fixed time period.
With the latter technique, a lower resolution is selected for the desired contents data to relieve congestion of communications on the network and, hence, it is possible that the desired contents data is transmitted to the user terminal with a resolution undesired by the user.
A feature of the present invention is to provide contents providing method, contents providing system and contents server which are capable of providing a user terminal with contents data desired by the user and carrying out a proper money-charging process in accordance with selection made by the user while reducing the load to be imposed on a contents server in responding to the user terminal.